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Pilot zones begin
The U.S. State Department announced that “pilot zone operations began in the villages of Froun, Srifa, and Zawtar Al-Gharbiya” as the IDF withdrew from designated areas to allow the Lebanese army to enter and complete Hezbollah’s disarmament there.
The State Department said the move was a “milestone” in implementing understandings reached between Israel and Lebanon after talks held last week in Rome, with the United States working “closely with both parties to implement the Framework to a successful conclusion.”
Ynetnews reported that three days earlier the Lebanese army deployed in the first pilot-zone area north of the security strip established by the IDF, with the pilot area entered by Lebanese soldiers near the villages of Froun and Randouriya in the Bint Jbeil region.
The same report said the villages near the pilot zone are located in a strategic area north of the yellow line and close to Wadi Saluki and the Litani River, and that the IDF had already prepared to hand over the two pilot zones to the Lebanese army.
Ynetnews added that the framework agreement states that “the Lebanese army will gradually assume full and effective security responsibility in pilot zones,” which would serve as a mechanism for IDF redeployment and a gradual and verified deployment of Lebanese army forces.
Who verifies the deal
Libnanews framed the question of monitoring as a need for “a future international mechanism” to accompany the Israeli withdrawal, the deployment of the Lebanese army, and the control of weapons in the pilot zones of South Lebanon.
It said Beirut refuses direct military coordination with Israel and that negotiations around the framework agreement are conducted with American mediation, with the United States retaining political and military leadership of the process.
Libnanews reported that Germany now advocates a European mission to take over from UNIFIL, and that “UNIFIL remains present through the end of 2026, with a withdrawal phase planned for 2027.”
The article also described the verification challenge at execution stage, saying an Israeli unit leaving a position must transmit information about the schedule, access routes, potential hazards, and the boundaries of the evacuated sector.
It added that without a channel recognized by both sides, “even a small delay could be interpreted as a violation,” while Lebanon wants a third party to receive the information, verify it, and transmit it to the army.
Verification crisis and next steps
Al Jazeera’s regional reporting focus in the provided sources came through a phone-in on Nile News channel, where Colonel Khaled Hamada said the “verification crisis is hindering the South Lebanon agreement” by blocking practical results between the sides.
Hamada said the knot in negotiations lies in verifying procedures taken by the Israeli army and the Lebanese army, especially in villages Israel has not entered where Hezbollah elements are present, and in occupied villages from which they will withdraw.
He added that rounds of talks held in Beirut with the commander of the U.S. Central Command, Brad Cooper, and the head of the 'Mechanism' Committee, American General Joseph Clearfield, “have not yet produced any practical result or agreement between the sides.”
The National News Authority of Lebanon’s coverage also tied the dispute to the nearing end of UNIFIL at year’s end, saying EU countries led by France, Germany, and Italy moved to fill the vacuum and return to southern Lebanon to play a role alongside the American role.
Naharnet reported that contacts are underway between the United States and several European countries to strengthen the verification mechanism, and that a diplomatic source said Italy expressed readiness to contribute in coordination with Washington while Lebanon has no objection to the participation of any European country in the mechanism.
